Volume Ii Part 9 (1/2)
”I have done so till I was wearied. Like a true lawyer, he insists upon proving each step as he goes, and will not condescend to a hypothetical conclusion, though I have told him over and over again we want a settlement, not a victory. Good-bye, good-bye! If I once launch out into the cause, I cannot tear myself away again.”
”Has your guest gone, Peter?” said Miss Dinah, as her brother re-entered the drawing-room.
”Yes; it was a hurried departure, and he had no great heart for it, either. By the way, Withering, while it is fresh in my head, let me tell you the message he has sent you.”
”Was there none for _me_, Peter?” said she, scofflngly.
”Ay, but there was, Dinah! He left with me I know not how many polite and charming things to say for him.”
”And am I alone forgotten in this wide dispensation of favors?” asked Josephine, smiling.
”Of course not, dear,” chimed in Miss Dinah. ”Your grandpapa has been charged with them all. You could not expect a gentleman so naturally timid and bashful as our late guest to utter them by his own lips.”
”I see,” said Withering, laughing, ”that you have not forgiven the haughty aristocrat for his insolent estimate of the people!”
”He an aristocrat! Such bitter words as his never fell from any man who had a grandfather!”
”Wrong for once, Dinah,” broke in Barrington. ”I can answer for it that you are unjust to him.”
”We shall see,” said she. ”Come, Josephine, I have a whole morning's work before me in the flower-garden, and I want your help. Don't forget, Peter, that Major M'Cormick's butler, or boatman, or bailiff, whichever he be, has been up here with a present of seakale this morning. Give him something as you pa.s.s the kitchen; and you, Mr. Withering, whose trade it is to read and unravel mysteries, explain if you can the meaning of this unwonted generosity.”
”I suppose we can all guess it,” said he, laughing. ”It's a custom that begins in the East and goes round the whole world till it reaches the vast prairie in the Far West.”
”And what can that custom be, Aunt Dinah?” asked Josephine, innocently.
”It's an ancient rite Mr. Withering speaks, of, child, pertaining to the days when men offered sacrifices. Come along; I 'm going!”
CHAPTER VII. CROSS-EXAMININGS.
While Barrington and his lawyer sat in conclave over the details of the great suit, Stapylton hurried along his road with all the speed he could summon. The way, which for some miles led along the river-side, brought into view M'Cormick's cottage, and the Major himself, as he stood listlessly at his door.'
Halting his carriage for a moment, Stapylton jumped out and drew nigh the little quickset hedge which flanked the road.
”What can I do for you in the neighborhood of Manchester, Major? We are just ordered off there to ride down the Radicals.”
”I wish it was nearer home you were going to do it,” said he, crankily.
”Look here,”--and he pointed to some fresh-turned earth,--”they were stealing my turnips last night.”
”It would appear that these fellows in the North are growing dangerous,”
said Stapylton.
”'T is little matter to us,” said M'Cormick, sulkily. ”I'd care more about a blight in the potatoes than for all the politics in Europe.”
”A genuine philosopher! How snug you are here, to be sure! A man in a pleasant nook like this can well afford to smile at the busy ambitions of the outer world. I take it you are about the very happiest fellow I know?”
”Maybe I am, maybe I'm not,” said he, peevishly.
”This spot only wants what I hinted to you t'other evening, to be perfection.”